Saturday, September 24, 2011

Apple Picking - Apples today - pie tomorrow!

We have 3 very old apple trees in the back yard. I'm not too sure what kind they are but I think they are comparable to MacIntosh apples.

They seem to bear in 3 year cycles - we have a great year, followed by a terrible year, and then a good year. Last year was a great year so I wasn't expecting too many apples this year.

I went out today hoping to get enough apples to make a pie, so I was pleasantly surprised when I easily picked a basket full!

The gadget in front of the basket is my apple picker.

It saves me from having to drag the ladder out every time I want to pick a few apples.

.You simply attach it to a pole, raise it up underneath the apple, and then use the hooks on the edge to pull the apple off the stem. The apple then falls into the cloth sack - preventing it from bruising.

The sack holds quite a few apples so you don't have to bring the pole down each time.